Digital-banking startup Revolut is now worth more than $1.7 billion

Credit cards as we know them can soon become history, as a European-based digital-baking start-up is planning to completely change the way we make payments.

The company presents itself as a digital banking alternative, including services like a pre-paid debit card (MasterCard or Visa), currency exchange, cryptocurrency exchange (BTC, ETH, and LTC) as well as peer-to-peer payments.

However, the main feature of the fin-tech start-up is that it allows users to avoid fees for the majority of its services, alongside giving instant access to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin by exchanging to and from 25 fiat currencies.

Investors are fancying the idea!

Recently, Revolut received a $250 million in a funding round, taking its total value at $1.7 billion. This Series C round was led by Hong Kong’s DST Global, according to The Independent, and supported by a series of investors, including Ribbit Capital and Index Ventures.

Ever since its launch, in 2015, Revolut managed to raise $340 million, while its valuation as grown five fold, just in the past year.

“Revolut is developing and delivering technology that reduces the complexity and cost of financial services for consumers and small businesses,” said DST Global managing partner Tom Stafford.

“We are delighted to support (chief executive) Nik (Storonsky) and the Revolut team as they continue to innovate, roll out new services and expand geographically,” he added.

Coming soon to a store near you

The fin tech company revealed that the most part of the cash is going to be used to finance its global expansion, as they’re planning to enter markets like the United States, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia in 2018.

Revolut has now over 1.7 million customers across Europe and expects to increase its employee base, which now counts 350 people, to 800 by the end of the year, the main focus being on engineers and designers. Finally, in the next five years, they expect to have at least 100 million customers.

“Our focus, since we launched, has been to do everything completely opposite to traditional banks,” said CEO and founder Nik Storonsky. “We build world class tech that puts people back in control of their finances, we speak to our customers like humans and we’re never afraid to challenge old thinking in order to innovate,” he concluded.